Sweden's deputy prime minister has sparked outrage after comparing the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean to the horrors of the Holocaust.

In a televised party leader debate on Sunday evening, Asa Romson deplored the desperate situation of migrants trying to make the perilous and often deadly crossing to Europe, saying: 'We are...turning the Mediterranean into the new Auschwitz.'

Critics, including Jewish leaders, called the comparison to the Nazi death camp misguided and offensive.

About 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed in Auschwitz during the Second World War.

Ms Romson, who represents the Green Party, apologised on Twitter, saying: 'It was wrong to make the comparison with Auschwitz.'

It wasn't the only gaffe made by Ms Romson yesterday. She also said sorry for using an offensive term while apologising about comparing the migrants crisis with Auschwitz.

She referred to Roma people as 'zigenare', a word which means 'gypsy' in English.

The comment was made when Ms Romson told Swedish television she wanted to apologise to any of the groups affected by Adolf Hitler’s crimes during the Second World War, including 'zigenare' (gypsies), Jews and gay people.

Swedish news agency TT said Ms Romson also called the head of Stockholm's Jewish community to say she regretted her choice of words about the Holocaust.

Lena Posner-Körösi, president of the Council of Jewish Communities in Sweden and the Stockholm Jewish Community, told MailOnline: 'The moment I heard what she said I was furious.

'The situation with the migrants is a tragedy but to compare that with the Holocaust and Auschwitz, which was the industrial murder of people over a six-year period - you just cannot do that.

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'It's upsetting and I was outraged. She called me after the debate and understands she made a big mistake. I told her so and she apologised.

'I accepted it for me but I told her I thought she should make a public apology because survivors of the Holocaust wouldn't have heard her saying sorry to me."

She added: 'She understands that it was such a stupid and insensitive way to convey a message, especially from someone who has the responsibility of being deputy prime minister - she is not just anyone.'

A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: 'The Holocaust was an orchestrated campaign by the Nazis in which six million people were murdered.

'To describe the Mediterranean as “the new Auschwitz” is incorrect and unhelpful.

Around 900 people died last month when a boat packed with migrants capsized near Libya in one of the worst maritime disasters since the Second World War. This picture shows survivors arriving at Rhodes in Greece

'However, the fact that so many African migrants have lost their lives is a great human tragedy and we support any efforts to alleviate suffering and to save lives.'

More than 1,750 migrants are said to have perished in the Mediterranean since the start of 2015, a 30-fold increase over the same period last year.

The grim statistic followed the deaths of around 900 people last month when a boat packed with migrants capsized near Libya in one of the worst maritime disasters since the Second World War.

Survivors told of how women and children died 'like rats in a cage' after being locked into the boat's hold by traffickers.

Some resorted to clinging to their floating corpses until Italian and Maltese coastguards came to rescue them in the dead of night.

Survivors told of how women and children died 'like rats in a cage' after being locked into the boat's hold by traffickers. More than 1,750 migrants are said to have perished in the Mediterranean since the start of 2015

The UN estimates that 60,000 people have already tried to cross the Mediterranean this year.

The European Commission's migration policy, to be announced on Wednesday, will propose organising legal means for migrants to come to Europe so they do not turn to traffickers. But it will need to be agreed by EU states.

Ms Romson has been minister for the environment and deputy prime minister since last year after being elected to the Swedish parliament in 2010.

She is not the first Swedish politician to compare Europe's refugee crisis to the Holocaust.

Last month, Liberal Party MEP Cecilia Wikström said that EU member states were doing so little to help guarantee safe passage for migrants that future generations would compare their actions to Sweden 'turning a blind eye' to the Holocaust.